April 25, 2001
Page A4
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d it o r
P
C
in
h ie f
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u b l is h e r
Charles H. Washington
E
u s in e s s
M
anager
Gary Ann Taylor
A sst . P ublisher
Michael Leighton
C
opy
E
d it o r
Joy Ramos
C
the rep o rt’s author. “ M uch o f this is
no doubt due to the zealous m isinfor
m ation cam paigns by groups who
seek to de-fund im portant public ser
vices such as education and health
care,” he added.
“ D espite faltering public educa
tion and a shredded safety net for the
poor, children, and the disabled, anti-
govern m en t activ ists co n tin u e to
press for turther tax cuts that prim a
rily benefit O reg o n 's m ost econom i
cally com fortable. T h eirth irst fortax
cuts seem s to know no lim it as they
soak O regonians w ith m isinfonna-
tion about our tax system ,” said T h
om pson.
“Contrary to claim s o f anti-gov
ernm ent activists, tax levels in O r
egon are not high and have not been
rising. Total state and local tax collec
tions have trailed behind econom ic
growth in Oregon for some time now,”
said Thom pson.
The m ost rem arkable aspect o f
O regon C enter for P l blk
P olka
A new report finds that the tax
burden in O regon is near its low est
levels in the last 20 years.
State and local taxes, as a share o f
incom e in Oregon, have gone from
11.8 percent in 1988 to 10.2 percent in
1999, steadily declining over the past
10 years. C om pared w ith six other
W estern states, O reg o n ’s household
tax burden is in the m iddle and its
business tax burden is the lowest.
T he O regon C enter for Public
Policy used a variety o f data sources
to analyze the current and past tax
burdens O regonians face, in an at
tem pt to inform the debate over taxes.
“ A nnual surveys show O regonians
g en erally are not know led g eab le
a b o u t sta te g o v ern m en t rev en u e
sources and expenses,” noted Jeff
T h o m p so n , an ec o n o m ist at the
Silverton-based research institute and
O reg o n ’s overall tax structure is its
regressivity. W hile O reg o n ’s single-
largest tax, the personal incom e tax, is
partially based on the ability to pay,
the overall tax structure places a
higher burden in low -incom e h o u se
holds.
The total effective state and local
tax rate o f the low est-incom e 20 per
cent o f O regon households is 12.3
percent, com pared to the 11.8 percent
rate o f the highest-incom e 20 per
cent.
O regon taxes low -incom e house
holds at higher rates than upper-in
com e households because o f the re
gressive com ponents o f the tax struc
ture - property and excise taxes - and
because O regon taxes fam ilies at in
com e levels well below poverty. O r
egon levies the eighth highest in
com e tax on four-person, p o o r w o rk
ing fam ilies. O reg o n le v ie s the
n atio n ’s third highest tax on four
person families who are slightly above
the poverty level
In addition to the declining total
state and local tax burden, the effec
tive federal tax rates on nnddle-in-
com e fam ilies have also fallen in re
cent years.
“ D ata from the C o n g ressio n al
Budget O ffice show that federal taxes
on m iddle-incom e families are at their
low est point in the last thirty years,”
noted T hom pson.
•
The study, “C learing the A ir on
Tax Day: A ssessing the Tax Burden
in O regon,” is available on the O CPP
T he O regon C e n ter for Public
Policy is a non-profit research o rga
nization that analyzes budget, tax,
and program issues im portant to low-
and m oderate-incom e O regonians,
the m ajority o f O regonians.
z-"-.
I B IR D S
1 CAT.
3 SQ U IRR ELS
d it o r
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
B
New Report Clears the Air on Taxes
r e a t iv e
D
ir e c t o r
Robert Parker
4 7 4 7 NE M a rtin Luther King,
Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 9 7 2 1 1
5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3
Fax 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 1 5
e-maN
news@portlandobserver.com
sUxwlptton@porttendobeerverxom
7 2 0 0 VOLTS.
Mississippi Vote Deeply Disappointing
N A A C P w ill not give up its
fight to rem ove from public
property any and all sym bols
that celebrate the tw isted p h i
losophy o f bigotry and hatred
in this country. The historic
M ississippi State conference
o f the NA ACP is to be com
m ended for leading the fight
on this issue.
“ The governor and business
leaders w orked hard in this
effort to create a new M issis
N A A C P P resident & CEO
K w e is i
M fu m e
c a lle d
T u esd ay ’s decision by the vot
ers in M ississip p i to retain the
c o n fe d e rate em blem on the
s ta t e ’s flag “ d e e p ly d is a p
pointing.”
M fum e said, “ it is too bad
that the v o ters o f M ississippi
have chosen to stay b uried in
the past instead o f m oving for
w ard into the 21 st century.
T hat, not w ith sta n d in g , the
sippi. It is a sham e that m any
v o te rs d id not sh a re th e ir
v ie w s. It is im p o rta n t fo r
people to em brace sym bols o f
unity and not sym bols o f d iv i
siv e n e s s : T he C o n fe d e ra te
sym bol represents b igotry and
hatred not only in A m erica,
but also around the w orld. O ur
thanks to the m ulti-racial board
based c o alitio n that w orked
w ith th e N A A C P in th is
stru g g le,” M fum e added.
YOU D BE AMAZED
W H A T S H ID IN G
V
IN Y O U R T R E E .
.
>
,
'- W
Cycling Center Needs Bikes!
ones! W hat c a n ’t be used
as a b icycle m ight get used
to m ak e re c y c le d a rt or
other things.
W e can use e v ery th in g
from fancy road bikes, high
tec h m o u n ta in b ik es and
classic cru isers to your b a
sic 10 speed from the ‘7 0 ’s.
E verything goes to a good
cau se!
com m uter bicycles to 100
P ortland residents in need
o f affordable transportation
to th eir places o f em ploy
m ent. K ick o ff your spring
cleaning and help m ake this
project successful by donat
ing your unused bikes.
C all 503-288-8864 for de
tails, or drop bikes o ff at our
shop located at 1700 N.E.
A lberta.
W e can use any bikes you
have, ex cept re a lly rusty
The Com m unity Cycling
C enter is a local non-profit
agency ded icated to p ro v id
ing b icy cles to low -incom e
m em bers o f th e P o rtlan d
co m m unity. D o n atio n s o f
a d u lt- s iz e d b ic y c le s a re
needed for use in its teen
and adult program s.
O v e r th e n e x t s e v e ra l
m onths, in w hat w e call the
C reate A C o m m u ter p ro
gram , we w ill give re fu r
b ish ed and fu lly -o u tfitte d
C o n t a c t w ith a p o w e r l i n e c a n c a u s e s e r i o u s i n j u r y .
B e fo re d o in g an y y a rd w o rk th is s p r in g , lo o k u p .
I f y o u s e e a l i n e g iv e u s a c a ll a t 1 - 8 0 0 - 5 4 4 “ 1 7 9 4 -
/ V
S PGE
PGE/
P ortland General Electric
Sincerely, the C o m m u n ity
Cycling C enter
WW W . P O R T L A N D G E N E R A L .C O M
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Sun
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Mon
30
Tut
Wed
Tftur
Fri
Sat
25
2e
27
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1
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nrvU» W' Apm ?5 thn, firvlh M
ay I
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Now the
4
are in the Card!
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HOUSEHOLD PER DAK